Giants Head Coach Joe Judge: Team Will 'Punch You in the Nose for 60 Minutes'

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge held his first-ever press conference as an NFL head coach on Thursday. 

Judge, who is replacing Pat Shurmur and his 9-23 record over the past two seasons, came to the Giants after spending eight years with Bill Belichick's New England Patriots. He was a special teams assistant before working his way up to special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach this past season.

He was also an assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama prior to joining the Patriots and surely learned his approach from two of the all-time greats.

Giants fans can expect a physical approach to the 2020 season if Thursday's most notable comment was any indication. Judge told reporters the NFC East team will "punch you in the nose for 60 minutes" under his watch:

The 38-year-old also said the players must "earn" their spot on the starting lineup because the best ones are going to play.

Judge wasted little time making an impression. 

Judy Battista of NFL.com noted he arrived at the press conference early and shook hands with reporters, while Ian Rapoport and Kimberly Jones of NFL Network reflected on the press conference and his insistence the Giants will be a "blue-collar" and "old school" team:

Despite the lack of any head coaching experience at the collegiate or NFL level, Judge appeared ready to embrace the challenge under the microscope that is professional sports in the Big Apple. He pointed to the "full education" he received under Belichick and Saban as reasons he will be ready for his new role.

While there are building blocks in place for the Giants with arguably the best running back in the league in Saquon Barkley and a young quarterback in Daniel Jones, they are still coming off a 4-12 season and losing records in each of the last three campaigns.

What's more, they have made the playoffs just once in the eight years since they won the Super Bowl in the 2011 season.

Judge is facing a daunting challenge, and he took the first step Thursday with his introductory press conference.